LaunchPad - INW

Spokane Regional Networking, Social Media, Professional and Business Development

January 2009 Blog Posts (44)

Are we really "Aware" of Breast Cancer

Almost every woman out there has heard these statistics....every 3 minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer and 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. We hear it on TV, see it in print, on the web, and at fundraising events. Yet, with all the media attention, I wonder how many women really hear these statistics and think about the implications of them.

Spokane County and Inland Imaging recently released a report that states nearly 1/2… Continue

Added by Terri Dysart on January 31, 2009 at 10:24pm — 1 Comment

What is a "Short Sale" and is it for you?

When a home owner starts to get behind in his payments or knows he will soon be having trouble making his payments, he can work with the bank to get approval to do what is called a Short Sale. This occurs when the market value of a home has dropped below the combined total of the loan(s) and sale costs. Under this arrangement, the bank makes a decision that it is more cost effective to let the home be sold and take a loss at this point than it is to go through the time consuming, expensive… Continue

Added by David Atherton on January 31, 2009 at 6:30pm — No Comments

Making the Case for Eastern Washington in Olympia

Greater Spokane Incorporated is taking a record number of business and civic leaders to Olympia this year (85), Jan. 28th-30th. They're making the rounds at the statehouse, and meeting with elected officials, including the governor. In a year with a $7 billion projected budget deficit, GSI, like many organizations, is advocating for business-friendly laws and funding for key projects in Eastern Washington. What follows are updates from GSI Chief Operating Officer (and budding blogger!) Jeff… Continue

Added by Dawn Picken on January 29, 2009 at 3:48pm — 5 Comments

No Mail on Saturday or Tuesday? (Two of the slowest mail days for USPS) Would You Care?

Quite the topic of conversation at the BBB today….We have a former postal carrier working here, and he had some great insights on this subject:

• On the whole, business people seem to be fine with no Saturday delivery

• UPS, FedEx etc. all charge for Saturday services

• 1/5 of postal carriers would not be needed, a fact that the carrier’s union will fight with all they have

It is Aunt Susie and Grandpa Fred who rank mail delivery high and will miss it most as a daily… Continue

Added by Jan Quintrall on January 29, 2009 at 12:44pm — 6 Comments

Build your Networking Skills 8 quick tips

I recently got this in an email and thought it was valuable to share with my new launchpad partners! We can put these to use next week at the event on the 5th - did you RSVP yet? Check the Events tab & get it on your calendar! Learn how to make the most out of LaunchPad!

Building Your Networking Skills

8 Quick Tips

Networking events can seem very intimidating, but they can be a resource that will help propel your career to new heights. It is always important to go into… Continue

Added by Margie Basaraba on January 29, 2009 at 9:38am — 1 Comment

What can the public library do for your business?

I don't know how many times I've heard or read the phrase "We live in the Information Age." But really, what the heck does "Information Age" mean?

From my vantage point, it means the following: If you don't have control over the flow of information that is valuable to you and your business, watch out. I don't want to make anyone paranoid, but if you aren't managing the information that is rushing by then it is likely that your customers -- and business -- are on somebody else's… Continue

Added by Mark Pond on January 28, 2009 at 7:30pm — 2 Comments

Live Music brings live people to your business!

Steven King here. I play solo guitar for events and make the guitar sound like a small band. I won the USA National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship playing in this dynamic way, and I play the best popular music from every era, be it popular, jazz, classical, swing, Latin, Beatles, etc. I also lead my guitar and flute duo -beautiful - and larger bands as well up to a 6 or 7 or 8-piece gala dance orchestra for black tie events. We also have a fiesta mariachis combo. Why not! And we do weddings,… Continue

Added by Steven King on January 28, 2009 at 3:32pm — No Comments

Get Yourself Quoted

As a freelance writer I've conducted more interviews than I can count. Often my sources want to be quoted because media exposure is worth more than any ad campaign. While I can’t speak for other journalists, here are a few interview tips that may help you get quoted:

- Don’t reiterate your marketing message. This includes website content, press release verbiage, and all marketing collateral – anything I could easily find without talking to you. Most of us do background research… Continue

Added by Jill Barville on January 27, 2009 at 11:24am — No Comments

photos in my slideshow

For the curious ones, the photos in my slideshow are all from the Think SWING! Jazz and Blues Festival. Various years are mixed together, and festival is now headed into its fourth year. Check out the event at www.thinkswingspokane.com

For 2009, the event is scheduled for the weekend of October 23 and 24. More details to follow.

Added by Garrin Hertel on January 23, 2009 at 3:01pm — No Comments

A Resident or a Citizen?

I once sat on the Coeur d'Alene City Council. What an education. For someone who's lived here all his life, and been fairly active in local business and civic affairs, I had no idea of all the things that make a city work. I have fond memories of my time but once was enough.

Early on in my term I was at a statewide video conference with various City leaders and will always remember what a man from the south end of the state said. Paraphrased:

There is a difference between… Continue

Added by Dave Walker on January 23, 2009 at 12:38pm — 4 Comments

Connect with me on Twitter

This has been a great resource to immediately share story ideas, thoughts, trivia and fun stuff to the people of Spokane and beyond. My friend Johnny, many know him as Johnny 5, gave me a Twitter 101 crash course a few months back and I'm so glad he did.

I like it because I can pick and choose who I want to follow. The group I do follow is small but informative. I use it daily during the week; I have it set up to pop-up new Tweets on my computer . It's a great way for me to stay in… Continue

Added by Dave Erickson on January 23, 2009 at 12:17pm — No Comments

What was in the envelope?

A funny little blog written in the economist

http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2009/01/what_was_in_the_envelope.cfm

for those who don't want to click

21:39 GMT +00:00

What was in the envelope?

Posted by: Economist.com | NEW YORK

Categories: Barack Obama George Bush

PRIOR to leaving the White House for the last time, George Bush left an envelope in the oval office for… Continue

Added by Shannon Aree on January 22, 2009 at 3:21pm — 9 Comments

Looking for and finding the good

Have you ever noticed that when you look for the bad you find it and when you look for the good, you find that too? Since I'd much rather find the good I'm looking for it. And it is so delightful to find, in big ways and small.

This week, when dropping my daughter off for a Spokane Area Children's Chorus rehearsal, I found some good. As she left the car and walked up the steps, one of the boys in her choir was just ahead of her. He paused a moment for her to catch up and then reached… Continue

Added by Jill Barville on January 22, 2009 at 9:27am — 4 Comments

Network Neutrality And Your Right To Know...

Many of you follow and subscribe to my blog at http://www.adamjohnson.org, where I talk about issues within telecom and Internet that have an impact on small business, and people in general.

As of late I have become increasingly aware that many ISPs and companies are choosing to openly violate network neutrality principals to stifle competition. The most notorious for doing this is Comcast, as they are doing it openly and in defiance of… Continue

Added by Adam Johnson on January 21, 2009 at 3:27pm — 10 Comments

MasterCard Compromise Alert

If you are a MasterCard holder, you will want to know about a MasterCard Compromise Alert that I just became aware of. It seems that many financial institutions across the United States have received information from MasterCard Fraud Management indicating that some cardholders are at risk for unauthorized charges due to a data breach that occurred at Heartland Payment Systems, a large U.S. based credit card processing center.

Visit here for more… Continue

Added by Zan Deery on January 21, 2009 at 3:21pm — 4 Comments

We're Moving

I just wanted to let everyone know that as a direct result of being on LaunchPad, the Berry|Brewer Freelance Agency has decided to move into the Spokane Entrepreneureal Center. We can't wait to connect with those of you already there.

Added by Lorna Doone Brewer on January 21, 2009 at 12:36am — 1 Comment

5 Reasons You Need a Speaking Coach

Sources suggest the average person utters 16,000 words a day. Salespeople and Politicians 20,000 and beyond. My four-year-old almost a million. Yet for such a dominant aspect of our life, we rarely give consideration to improving our speaking beyond a college speech class.

Communication is as important to a CEO as it is to a Sanitary Engineer. What and to whom they communicate may be vastly different, but the need for effectiveness remains. Below are 5 reasons you need a speaking… Continue

Added by Rich Hopkins on January 20, 2009 at 8:38pm — 3 Comments

What Are The Healthy Benefits Of Chocolate Acai Berry Products?

Remember the days when people said, "If it tastes good, it's not good for you"?

As a devote vegetarian I am more than pleased to see those days becoming a part of history. However, since all people are not vegetarians, could it be possible that this is true for others as well?

Yes!

It could.

Would you like to know what are the healthy benefits of chocolate acai berry products?

That is what this article is all about.

First, let's… Continue

Added by Guy & Irene @ PainKickers.com on January 20, 2009 at 4:04pm — No Comments

How Not to Succeed in Social Networking

I read this blog post by Julio Ricardo Varela this morning and thought it was very important for our members to read it. Although I don't know of too many people using automated responses which is covered in the beginning of the post the rest of the article has very good information for all us regarding social networking not being a place to sell but rather a place to connect and network. It also discusses how technology cannot replace human connections which is a big part of LaunchPad-INW,… Continue

Added by Bill Kalivas on January 20, 2009 at 9:30am — 7 Comments

A silver lining not to be missed!

Friends,

Have you checked out re-finance mortgage rates this week? 4.625% !!

I WAS AMAZED AND DELIGHTED to receive two good faith estimates from local Spokane lenders to refinance my primary residence at 4.625% and 4.875% for a 30-yr fixed rate loan! That's a great way for ANYONE to consider finding more family income and less out-go in your budget. I had no idea that rates had fallen that far!

Disclaimer: I am not a lender. I do not work for a lender. I am not… Continue

Added by Janet Bartman on January 19, 2009 at 8:16pm — 2 Comments